The Opel Rekord Series E is a large family car that replaced the Rekord D on Opel's Rüsselsheim production lines in August 1977, following the end of the summer vacation plant shut-down. It shared its wheelbase and inherited most of its engines from its predecessor, but the bodies were completely new. The corresponding Opel Commodore C was essentially identical to the Rekord E, but fitted with 6-cylinder engines.
In October 1982, the Rekord E was extensively reworked, retaining the central portion of the body, the same windows and the principal elements of the substructure, but with redesigned front and back ends and with several significant new engines. The pre- and post-facelift versions are commonly referred to as the E1 and E2, respectively.
The Rekord E's nine-year production run was far longer than that of any previous generation of Opel Rekord. It became the third Opel Rekord to exceed a million units produced, but it took longer to reach that target than its predecessor — bearing in mind this total now also included its Vauxhall Carlton sister model produced for the UK market. By then, large increases in fuel prices had persuaded many middle-market customers to downsize. The Opel Rekord was perceived as a large family car even in its West German home market where family cars were traditionally a little larger than in southern Europe. The Rekord (and later the Omega) would also come under pressure from the entry-level models of German luxury brands such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz — the beginning of an industry trend which would, by the end of the 1990s, see mass market brands abandon the D/E-segment completely.
The Rekord E was sold in the UK badged as the Vauxhall Carlton, initially identified by a reworked bonnet panel, and after 1982 differentiated by little more than the badges. Despite the UK branding, the Carltons were all produced at Rüsselsheim, leaving Vauxhall's British plants to concentrate on Cavaliers, Chevettes, Vivas and their successors.
The car was developed by Opel and a direct development of a succession of previous Opel Rekords, but during the closing decades of the twentieth century General Motors displayed a growing strategic interest in internationalizing their products, and the underpinnings of the Rekord E became known as the General Motors "V-platform", and various derivative versions of the Rekord E were manufactured by other GM divisions around the world.
Opel Rekord E1 (1977–1982)
The car Despite sharing its wheelbase and, at least initially, its engine range with the car it replaced, the Opel Rekord E as launched at the 1977 Frankfurt Motor Show was slightly wider, longer, higher and, with larger windows, significantly heavier than the Opel Rekord D. Inside it was noticeably more spacious.
Plaudits for the technologically impressive, though commercially unsuccessful, NSU Ro 80 introduced in 1968 had revived interest in aerodynamics among West German automakers, and the Rekord E came with claims of an improved drag coefficient of 0.42 Cd.) In 1982, the facelifted "E2" version was released with drag coefficient of 0.36. Of a generally smoother appearance, this version featured redesigned, more aerodynamic front and rear ends, and a reshuffling of engines and equipment levels. The E2 Vauxhall Carltons were distinguishable from Opel Rekords only by their badging, with no sheet metal differences present.
Design
Bodywork
The unibody, steel bodied cars offered seating for five. The top seller was the saloon. It was available with either two or four doors, although by now the West German market, which had for many years retained an appetite for larger cars with just two doors, was becoming more like the other major automarkets of western Europe in expecting cars the size of the Rekord to provide rear seat passengers with their own doors. The four-door Rekord comfortably outsold its two-door sibling. Saloon production was 769,086 cars, split between 127,544 2-door cars and 641,542 4-door cars. Opel Rekord E1 "Caravan" (estate) production was 167,501 cars, of which 26,652 were 3-door models and 140,849 were 5-door ones.Oswald, p. 296
Opel also offered a three-door delivery van for light commercial use that was in most respects identical to the estate except that the rear side windows were replaced with metal panels. This configuration of vehicles offered self-employed small traders tax advantages in some countries. 30,477 Kasten-Lieferwagen (delivery van) Opel Rekord E1s were produced. This version was also assembled in Indonesia, with either petrol or a diesel 2-liter engines. Built from 1980 until 1988, it was possible to register this as a commercial vehicle although the majority of cars delivered would immediately have rear windows and seats installed.
For the first time since 1961 no Opel Rekord coupé was listed. However, customers wishing to enjoy style at the expense of rear seat headroom had not been abandoned to the competition, having been catered for since September 1970 by the company's stylish new Manta.
Petrol engines Opel had introduced a new generation of petrol engines in 1966 with the Rekord B and these were the engines that reappeared in the Rekord E in 1977. As before, the stroke length was fixed at 69.8 mm: differences in engine size were achieved by varying the cylinder bore. The engine featured an unusual Camshaft in Head (CIH) configuration. The chain-driven camshaft was positioned directly above the cylinders but this was not a conventional ohc design. The camshaft operated the valves using rocker arms because the camshaft itself was positioned too low above the cylinders to permit direct action from the camshaft on the valves ends. One reason for this may have been cosmetic. Opel's so-called (CIH) engine configuration allowed the Rekord to incorporate the low bonnet lines that style-conscious product development departments called for.
The smallest power unit at launch was a 1698 cc engine with the low 8.0:1 compression ratio and as on the predecessor. The engine had seen its power output reduced during its time in the previous model following the reduction in standard octanes on West German forecourts in response to reductions in permissible lead levels in motor fuel. This, combined with the increased weight, of the Rekord E to provide rather an underpowered package. The engine presumably cost much the same to produce as similarly configured larger engines and from the point of view of the costing department it no doubt made sense that customers specifying a car with this "1.7N" engine were, according to the manufacturer's price list, charged exactly the same as customer specifying the greater power (and barely enhanced fuel economy) available from the Rekord E when power by the low compression "1.9N" engine. Few Rekord E customers selected the 1.7 litre engine and it disappeared from the list in 1980.
The more popular entry level power unit during the early years of the Rekord E was the 1897 cc 19N engine, also with a low compression ratio and so content to use basic grade low octane petrol. Powered by this unit, the Rekord E's maximum claimed power output was , just as it had been when the same unit was fitted in the Rekord D. Austrian buyers received a slightly donwtuned version (A19N) producing to fit the local tax and insurance climate.
Two years before production of the Rekord D came to an end, Opel had added to its engine palette a bored out 1979 cc version of their (CIH) engine, and this engine size reappeared in the Rekord E1 with three different power output levels, being , , and . The first of these, known as the "2.0N" came with a low 8:1 compression ratio and used basic grade fuel. The 100 PS unit, the "2.0S", had a 9:1 compression ratio and drivers using this engine were required to pay for "super" grade higher octane fuel. Available from the time of introduction, the new 81 kW "2.0E" engined Rekord also called for higher octane fuel and was the first Opel Rekord to feature fuel injection. This was rendered the more significant because during the 1980s legislators across western Europe would require automakers to fit catalytic converters to petrol fueled cars, and these would need to be used in conjunction with fuel injection because of a belief at the time that the imprecision of the fuel amounts injected with traditional carburetors created a risk of unburnt fuel emerging from the engine and burning or exploding in the converter, permanently and expensively damaging it. However, when the Rekord E was introduced in 1977 the challenges of catalytic converters, although already a familiar current challenge for General Motors in North America, were still a few years ahead for the European automakers. The Fuel injection system on the Rekord E came from Bosch who had already acquired extensive expertise of the relevant technologies working with Volkswagen. The system employed on the first fuel injected Rekords was the Bosch L Jetronic system, replaced towards the end of 1981 with the LE Jetronic. Rekord 1981 was also equipped with methanol resistant fuel system.
Diesel engines The 2068 cc diesel engine with which in 1972 Opel had made their bid for a slice of the lucrative stranglehold that Mercedes-Benz enjoyed over the taxi market reappeared on launch in the Rekord E still offering of maximum power. However, the new car was heavier than its predecessor and the market had also developed in the intervening half decade. Just a year later, in August 1978, the larger bored out 2260 cc version for which was claimed was introduced. The smaller 2.1 was soon discontinued. As before, the diesel engine was taller than the petrol units designed for the Rekord and diesel powered Rekord Es were differentiated by a long hump shaped ridge along the centre of the bonnet, necessary to accommodate the engine block. Usually equipped with the larger 2.3 litre engine, the diesel Rekords were particularly popular in France, Italy, and the Benelux countries.
By now Ford were also looking for a share of the taxi market with a Peugeot-powered diesel version of their Granada model and Peugeot's own diesel powered 504 was itself becoming an increasingly serious competitor, especially in shared European export markets. The diesel powered Rekord E matched its competitors in many respects and — at least in terms of undiscounted published prices — was generally cheaper than the Mercedes models, but somehow Mercedes-Benz continued to dominate the taxi market in Germany and the surrounding western countries.
For markets — notably Italy but also Belgium — where car tax increased savagely for car with engine capacities above two litres, a reduced diesel engine of 1998 cc with a maximum power output of just was available. This was the engine more usually specified for diesel powered versions of the smaller, lighter Opel Ascona. Top speed of a 2.0 D with the optional automatic transmission is a leisurely . Rekords with this engine were assembled in Indonesia as well, with three-door panel van or estate bodywork.
Transmission The standard transmission package was a manual all-synchromesh four speed gearbox, controlled using a centrally positioned floor mounted gear lever. There were plans to offer a new five-speed transmission, as in the Opels Senator and Monza, but when, in the summer of 1980, this was still not ready the manufacturer instead offered to buyers of the 1,979 cc petrol powered Rekords, for an extra DM 520, the option of a newly developed four-speed manual transmission incorporating an overdrive: this was intended to provide the chance to achieve improved fuel economy at a time when fuel efficiency was moving up the agenda of European car buyers coming to terms with the belief that the "era of cheap fuel" was over for good. Nevertheless, relatively few customers opted for the "four speeds with overdrive" transmission option.